The Flu
by TiffanyBlu
Summary: Lexie is sick and her favorite doctor takes care of her.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to Grey's Anatomy, including all characters and locations.

* * *

Sick

* * *

Lexie woke up that day with an aching head, a burning throat, and a horrible cough. Despite her obvious illness, she got up and went along with her normal routine. She arrived a little late to work, because she had been struck with a sudden bout of vomiting as she was about to leave.

"Three, where have you been?" came a harsh voice as she was walking out of the locker room.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Yang. I was running late this morning. It won't happen again."

"It better not. You're on plastics. GO."

Lexie made her way to find Dr. Sloan. She finally found him looking over some charts at the nurse's station.

"Good morning, Dr. Sloan. I'm on your service today."

"Ah, Little Grey." He said, then he turned from his charts to look at her. "You look awful. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." He said mockingly.

"It's just a little cold. No big deal."

"Okay. If you say so." He made a mental note to watch the littlest Grey closely. "Today we will be performing a skin graft on a burn victim......"

Lexie tried to listen to him, but her head ache was making it hard to concentrate.

"...Dr. Grey, are you even listening? Dr. Grey. LEXIE!"

"What?" Lexie said startled out of her pain induced daze. "I'm sorry. I'm listening."

"You should've been listening the whole time!"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sloan. Can we....." Lexie suddenly makes a mad dash towards the bathroom. The nearest one, however, seems miles away, so she makes a beeline into a supply closet and vomits into a trash can. She hears the door open behind her and is too embarrassed to look up. She hears the footsteps come closer, and notices an arm hand her a paper towel. She takes it and wipes her face off.

"Turn around, Lexie," Dr. Sloan says.

Lexie slowly lifts her head and turns to face Mark. She is taken by surprise when Mark lifts a hand to her forehead.

"You're burning up."

"I'm fine. We should get back to work."

"You're not fine," he says. He then moves to a shelf and finds a thermometer. Without asking permission he shoves it under her tongue and firmly holds it there with his hand. She makes a muffled protest.

"Shhh, Lexie. Be quiet, you'll mess up the reading."

What seemed like hours later to Lexie, but was really only a minute or so, the thermometer beeped. Mark pulled it out of her mouth and looked at it concernedly.

"It's a hundred and two. What are your symptoms other than fever and vomiting?"

"Just a headache and coughing."

"Does your body ache at all?"

"Just a little."

"Have you been more tired than normal?"

"A little."

"Did you get your flu shot this year?"

Lexie looked up sheepishly, and he knew the answer.

"Lexie, they were giving them free at the hospital. If you'd have just gotten one this whole situation could've been avoided."

"I don't like needles," Lexie said, not looking him in the eye.

"You don't like needles? You're a doctor. How can you be bothered by something you handle as a career?"

"They don't bother me when they're going into someone else."

"Well, I'm sorry, but you're getting a penicillin shot."

"You're overreacting. I'm fine. I don't need a shot."

"Lexie, stay right here. I'll be back in a minute, and after the shot, you're going home."

Before she had time to answer, he had left and shut the door behind him. Lexie considered leaving, but she thought about how mad he would be and decided against it. She sat anxiously awaiting what was to come. She didn't have to wait long. Not two minutes later Mark returned with a sinister looking syringe.

"Hip or arm?" he asked.

Lexie didn't answer just stared at the needle in his hand. Mark sighed and kneeled to Lexie's level. He grabbed her around the waist and lowered her scrubs pants.

"Please don't make me," Lexie said in a pathetic mewl.

Mark looked at her frightened face and felt sympathy. It was easy to see she didn't feel good, and she was terrified of this shot.

"It'll just take a second Lexie, and soon you'll be cozy in your bed at home in your favorite pajamas and feeling better."

As he said this he lowered her scrub pants again and quickly swabbed her hip with alcohol and injected her with the penicillin. Lexie took a sharp breath, but the shot was over before she knew it. Mark removed and disposed of the needle and gently pulled a band-aid over the barely visible injection site. He pulled her scrubs back to their place.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Lexie shook her head, signifying that he was right.

"Okay, Lexie. Let's get you home."

Mark helped Lexie walk to a chair and disappeared for a few minutes. He quickly returned and guided her from the chair to the parking lot. He could tell she was just about to fall asleep. He didn't think she would notice when he put her into his car.

"I can drive," Lexie said drowsily.

"No, you can't. Don't argue." Lexie shut up.

He got her in the seat and buckled up, then got in and started the car, turning on the heat for his sick passenger. Before he could ask her where she lived, she had fallen asleep. She looked so pale and sick that he didn't want to wake her up. He decided to take her back to his penthouse hotel room. It would be nicer, no doubt, than wherever she lived anyway. They arrived ten minutes later at the hotel and Mark left his car with valet and carefully lifted Lexie out of her seat and carried her to the elevator up to his room. She didn't wake until just as he was setting her on the bed.

"Where am I?" she said, slightly frightened.

"You fell asleep before I could ask you for your address, so I brought you here, to my hotel room. Too sick to argue or ask questions, Lexie just nodded her head and went back to sleep. Mark debated over what to do next. Her scrubs were dirty from the hospital and smelled faintly of vomit. He went to his closet and found a large t shirt and some sweat pants of his. He slowly and carefully undressed Lexie, keeping his eyes off her body. He quickly redressed her, but came to a problem when his sweatpants wouldn't stay on her slender hips. He decided to just take them off. The t shirt reached her knees anyways. Mark lifted her under the covers and tucked her in. He, then, quickly ran to the drugstore just next door. He picked up flu medicine, orange juice, apple juice, and soup. He poured a glass of apple juice and took two pills out of the bottle. Mark walked back into the bedroom where Lexie was still sleeping. He tried waking her, but she just mumbled and moved in her sleep. He finally woke her to just a semblance of consciousness. He slipped the pills gently past her teeth and poured a little juice down her throat. She swallowed it down and went straight back to sleep. Mark stayed by her side the entire night.

The next morning Mark woke up stiff from having slept in the uncomfortable chair next to the bed. Lexie was still sound asleep. He checked her fever and it had come down a little. He figured she would wake soon, and he knew she hadn't had anything to eat in a day, so he called room service and ordered assorted fruit. After room service arrived, he poured a glass of orange juice and returned to the room. He gently shook her awake.

"Lexie. Lexie, wake up. You have to eat, Lexie."

Lexie slowly came to consciousness. She remembered where she was and quickly gained her bearings. Mark handed her some orange juice and she quickly drank it dry. He left and returned with another glass.

"Thank you."

"Of course. Here I ordered you some fruit. You have to eat something."

Lexie looked at the platter of fruit questioningly. She wasn't sure she would be able to keep it down. She decided to try anyway. The doctor in her knew she would never get well if she didn't get her strength up. She lifted a strawberry to her lips and took a bite. Soon she had single handedly finished the whole platter, and she was feeling much better.

"How ya feeling now?"

"Much better. Thanks so much for taking care of me."

"Of course, Lexie. I'd never leave a fellow doctor in need..." Lexie looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Okay, that's a lie. I'd never leave a good looking female doctor in need."

"That sounds more accurate," Lexie said smiling at him. "I should probably be going. I don't want to consume anymore of your time."

"No. You may be feeling better, but you're not well yet. We're both off work for four more days, so you can stay here and recover."

"How did you get me off work for so long?"

"I just went and talked to the chief and told him about your condition. He insisted you take time to get well, and that I get time to make sure you were taking care of yourself."

"Not that I don't appreciate it, but why _are_ you taking care of me?"

"I just feel responsible for you, for some reason. I mean, someone has to take care of you. You clearly can't take care of yourself," he said motioning a hand towards her sick condition.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I'm a doctor, too, you know."

"You didn't even bother to get a flu shot, you clearly have no sense of self preservation. You need a keeper."

"I do not. Now, seriously, I'm sure there's something you'd rather do with your time off. I can leave. I probably should leave, actually."

"Lexie, I already told you. I want to take care of you. If you went home you'd only let yourself get sicker, and there'd be nobody to take care of you."

"George is there."

"George is an idiot."

Lexie just looked at him scathingly, and said nothing in reply.

"Now that that's settled, how about a nice, hot bubble bath to take the ache out of your muscles?"

"Okay," she said sullenly, knowing she had lost the battle.

Mark disappeared into the bathroom for several moments, then reappeared to help Lexie into the bathroom. It was then that Lexie realized what she was wearing.

"You changed my clothes?" she said, astonished.

"Your scrubs smelled bad and didn't look very comfortable. It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. Now, calm down and get in your bath. Call me if you need anything."

Lexie, obedient as ever, did as she was told and sank into the hot bath. She was still blushing from Mark's words. It was true. He _had_ seen her naked before. That was the first Mark had ever brought up "the incident" as Lexie called it in her mind. She had given up on the thought that they may ever be able to start a relationship. Mark Sloan and relationship are not words you hear in a sentence together. Their night together was wonderful, but she had convinced herself that that was all it was. One night.

While Lexie was soaking in her bath, Mark was in the little galley kitchen heating up some soup and pondering the same thoughts as Lexie. What was it that made him want to take her back to his hotel room and take care of her? He had never experienced this feeling before. It wasn't love, but possibly strong affection. He liked Lexie. He would let himself admit that. But could he ever carry a relationship with her? That was laughable. Mark Sloan doesn't _do_ relationships. Everyone knows that. However, the more he thought about it, the more he could see himself with Lexie. Waking up every morning to her. Going out to dinner after long shifts at the hospital. Cooking breakfast together. Wait... what was he thinking? He was Mark Sloan. The Mark Sloan. Mark Sloan didn't get in relationships, especially not with much younger interns. But the seed was already planted. Mark wanted something he'd never wanted before. A relationship. With Lexie Grey.

Lexie got out of the tub, wrapped herself in a towel and walked back to Mark's bedroom. She dug through his drawers until she found a soft t shirt and some gym shorts. The shirt hung loosely to her knees and the shorts would not stay up. Lexie grabbed the waist band of the shorts and just held them up. She walked into the kitchen, smelling soup.

Mark was startled out of his thoughts as Lexie appeared from his bedroom. He couldn't hide the smile at the sight of her outfit. She was wearing his old, worn college t shirt and red shorts. The shorts were literally falling off of her, and she was holding them up with one hand.

"Hungry?" he said. "I made soup."

"I could smell it. I'm starving!"

"That's a good sign," he said, pouring the soup into a big coffee mug. "Here you go."

Lexie dug into the soup. Mark just watched in amusement as she inhaled it in under two minutes. Lexie looked up to see him smirking. She realized she had been eating like a pig and blushed.

"Sorry," she said.

"That's okay. I'm glad to see your appetite is back. Drink some juice." He offered her a big glass of apple juice.

"Thank you. For all of this."

"You're welcome."

* * *

All too soon, their four days was up. Lexie had spent all of them at his hotel room. At some point, he went to her apartment and picked up some of her things. Clothes, a toothbrush, and other essentials. They had become increasingly closer over their time together. After her sickness, Lexie found herself over at Mark's hotel room a lot. They frequently ate supper together and just hung out. Eventually, they grew closer and started a relationship. The next year they were engaged and Mark personally escorted Lexie to get her flu shot.


End file.
